The present invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting device in which an active layer includes a well layer made of a compound semiconductor containing at least gallium (Ga), arsenic (As), and nitrogen (N), a method of manufacturing the semiconductor light emitting device, and an optical module.
In these years, since information volume has been increased and communication speed has become high, optical communication using optical fiber has been increasingly demanded. Accordingly, development of light emitting devices for optical communication in 1.3 μm band or 1.5 μm band, in which transmission loss of optical fiber is low has been actively implemented. Traditionally, the light emitting devices have been mainly fabricated from GaInAsP materials using an InP substrate. However, when the InP substrate is used, there has been a disadvantage that the cost is high since the substrate is expensive and a cooling system is necessary in manufacturing due to the poor temperature characteristics.
Therefore, instead of the foregoing light emitting devices, fabricating a light emitting device using GaNAs materials on a GaAs substrate has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-37355). When the GaAs substrate is used as above, the substrate is not expensive, and the temperature characteristics are superior (for example, refer to “Japan Journal of Applied Physics,” 2000, 6A, p. 39) and therefore a cooling system is not necessary, leading to reductions in cost.